Civil Engineering

Engineering, Carter School students give peace a chance

Nathan Kahl — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 18:51:26 +0000

Engineering, Carter School students give peace a chance Nathan Kahl Tue, 07/23/2024 - 14:51

Learn More About the Minor

In This Story

Incoming college students are increasingly concerned with social justice, conflict resolution, and sustainability. These are byproducts of being raised in an interconnected, interdisciplinary world, where they’ve been taught to consider the downstream consequences of their actions and decisions.

Engineering students like the Engineers for International Development group pictured here on a clean drinking water project in Ecuador served as inspiration for the new minor. Photo provided

In response, the ��AV College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) and Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution are now collaborating on a minor in peace engineering. The minor’s germination comes from numerous places but was pushed forward initially by Liza Wilson Durant, CEC’s associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement, and Alpaslan Özerdem, dean of the Carter School.

"I advised students in Mason’s Engineers for International Development chapter on developing engineered solutions to community problems in remote lands in Central America,” said Durant. “The engagement with community members and the work to understand the needs of a vast number of community stakeholders was as important as the final engineered solution. It occurred to me that we could bring that kind of understanding to the classroom for more engineering students through collaboration with the Carter School.”

Jane Walker, director of undergraduate student services for the Carter School, said the minor is ideal for students of both colleges. “The engineering students will better understand culture, people, and the complexity of their interactions, and Carter School students will better understand systems thinking and engineering design. Understanding design process helps with problem solving.”

Walker noted that their students have shown interest in adding to their expertise in conflict analysis with skills in project management and technical considerations, which they could get from classes that make up this minor.

Durant was inspired watching students tackle problems in Central America.

According to the university website, the minor “brings together expertise in systems-level science, engineering principles, and conflict resolution practice to support conditions for peace. It prepares students to engage in projects with conflict sensitivity and to understand the engineering technologies and approaches impacting human systems.”

“When I pursued my civil engineering degree in Istanbul during the late 1980s, our curriculum offered limited engagement with socio-economic and cultural issues,” said Özerdem. “Although we had the opportunity to select a few electives that touched upon these topics, the primary focus remained on the technical and structural aspects of civil engineering.”

Rajesh Ganesan, an associate professor in the Systems Engineering and Operations Research Department, explained how systems engineering approaches are useful. “As we look at conflict on the whole from a global perspective, and think of all the huge factors that play a role in any crisis, we want to incorporate systems thinking into conflict analysis," he said. "It’s important for our students to have those systems thinking approaches.”

Özerdem, an engineer by training, wants students to develop holistic approaches to problems.

Özerdem said, “The disciplinary focus has evolved from a narrow technical lens to a more holistic approach that embraces flexibility and interdisciplinary learning. This shift has been a response to the growing recognition that the challenges we face today—ranging from climate change and urbanization to social equity and global peace—cannot be adequately addressed by any single discipline alone.”

Ganesan added that increasingly students are asking for courses related to things like climate change, global conflicts, energy sustainability, and more. He said, “These words were nonexistent previously. If you had asked me six or seven years ago, nobody spoke about these things, but now the students are asking for them, and we have other pushes, like from the Dean’s Advisory Board.” He said the advisory board, students, and alumni are the key sources of feedback on curriculum change.

For students looking to graduate on time, the minor only requires 15 more credits, of which eight are unique. A student may complete the minor by adding three classes and no more semesters.

Özerdem has a strong vision for the minor. “In the coming years, we hope to see it become a flagship program attracting a diverse and dynamic cohort of students from across the university,” he said. “Our goal is to build a robust and supportive learning environment where students from different disciplines can collaborate and learn from one another, fostering a culture of innovation and interdisciplinary excellence.”

Topics

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Civil Engineering

Students

minors

CEC Global Engagement

Limiting leaking leachate

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 17:42:27 +0000

Limiting leaking leachate Nathan Kahl Mon, 01/22/2024 - 12:42

Most Americans don’t think much about their trash once they’ve taken it outside of their home, which is a testament to our country’s efficient garbage management system.

Once that garbage truck rolls down the street, there’s a chance your trash is headed to one of the country’s roughly 3,000 operational landfills. And although it’s gone from your kitchen, the potential for that trash to then contaminate and harm people is something that must be carefully managed.

Kuo Tian, an assistant professor in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering at ��AV, recently received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to look at solid waste management service in rural locations, focusing on the potential health threats to groundwater in those areas.

Modern landfills have a composite liner system to collect leachate, a liquid that starts as rainfall (or melted snow) and that pools at the bottom of the landfill after filtering through waste, pulling out chemicals and pollutants from the material. Leachate is held by a liner system, comprising a geomembrane—which is very resistant to puncture and is usually black in color because of carbon added for strength—on top of a layer of clay or geosynthetic clay liner, which serves as a containment redundancy. Small punctures in the membrane are inevitable, but leak detection techniques allow operators to examine the liner as it is put in place, identifying even tiny holes, which can be fixed before waste is layered on top.

Mason researcher Kuon Tian and doctoral student Benjamin Matthew Stark collect leachate for analysis at the Berkeley County Landfill in West Virginia. Photo provided

Tian and his team will specifically examine the potential for PFAS leaking through the landfill liner system and contaminating nearby groundwater. PFAS—per- and polyfluorinated substances—are a group of chemicals used to make coatings for a variety of products and are commonly referred to as forever chemicals because they are persistent in the environment and in human bodies. Some evidence suggests they cause significant health problems.

The researchers will test both the types and concentrations of PFAS in leachate. “We want to assess the PFAS concentration over a year, looking at precipitation conditions, age of the landfill, and other factors,” Tian said.

The timing of the project is important, he says, because the EPA only recently created PFAS standards for drinking water, though there are currently no regulations to check PFAS concentrations in landfill leachates. Understanding how landfills may contribute to groundwater contamination will aid with landfill management moving forward.

According to Tian, a quality liner is critical. “A good liner will keep the leachate from migrating to the groundwater for hundreds or thousands of years.” So even if high PFAS levels are found, they may not pose an immediate risk. Further, he is concerned about PFAS migration to groundwater in older landfills, built prior to the early 1990s, which only use clay liners or in some cases lack liners entirely.

In addition to the research component, the grant contains funding for teaching elements. Once results from the research are confirmed, findings will be shared with local landfill operators and stakeholders.

In This Story

Kuo Tian

Topics

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

College of Engineering and Computing

CEC faculty research

Mason ASCE teams hosted, competed in 2023

Teresa Donnellan — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 17:00:16 +0000

Mason ASCE teams hosted, competed in 2023 Teresa Donnellan Mon, 01/08/2024 - 12:00

In This Story

Doaa Bondok

Every year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) allows its college chapters to participate in competitions that showcase the engineering knowledge and finesse of civil engineering students across the country.

Two of ��AV's ASCE teams—Team Surveying and Team Sustainable Solutions—participated and won in the annual competition, which was held in early spring of 2023. Led by Doaa Bondok, assistant professor of structural engineering and Mason ASCE faculty advisor, the Mason teams competed in challenges like the Steel Bridge Competition, Surveying Competition, and Sustainable Solutions.

“These competitions present fun challenges where students extend their engineering knowledge, think through concepts, create innovative solutions, and consider sustainability practices in their final designs,” said Bondok.

Mason's student team competes in the Steel Bridge Competition at the annual ASCE Virginias' Conference, hosted by the student chapter of Mason’s American Society of Civil Engineers. Photo by Bethany Camp/Office of University Branding

Several Mason civil engineering students also won ASCE National Capital Section scholarships: Amber Brown, previous ASCE student vice president, received $2,500; Phillip Hunt, current ASCE student vice president, received $1500; and Kyler Resnick, ASCE recruiting and membership officer and the captain of the Steel Bridge Competition, received $1,500.

“My role as faculty advisor is to support the teams to achieve their goals,” said Bondok. “Personally, I see the most significant aspect of my role is to encourage and motivate them to overcome challenges along the way, help them grow professionally, uplift their spirit, and just being there for them.”

According to Bondok, being an ASCE student member is a rewarding experience that offers the chance to participate in and work on projects that may not be taught within a classroom and work closely with professional mentors in the industry.

Nicholo Gadiana, a Mason ASCE alum, was the project lead of the Sustainable Solutions Competition in 2022.

“One thing I would advise to anyone interested is don't be afraid to let your ideas be heard,” said Gadiana, who underscored the value of being a member of Mason's ASCE chapter. “Students should start having the mentality of networking and interacting with students, professors, and industry professionals when joining ASCE. After graduation, this attribute significantly improved how I approach other professionals in the industry.”

“Students have the ability to significantly improve their critical thinking abilities, gain management skills, and have a strong role on their resume that helps them be well-rounded and competitive as job candidates,” said Bondok.

The Mason ASCE chapter also received an honorable mention for their outstanding activities in 2022.

Topics

Civil Engineering

competitions

student organizations

Students

College of Engineering and Computing

ASEE SE conference focuses on a diversely educated workforce

Rena Malai — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 13:52:44 +0000

ASEE SE conference focuses on a diversely educated workforce Rena Malai Fri, 03/17/2023 - 09:52

In This Story

Kenneth Ball

Gurdip Singh

Janis Terpenny

Given the digital society we live in now, it’s important to think about how well students are prepared for it.

This was a point made clear by ��AV Systems Engineering and Operations Research and Mechanical Engineering professor and National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Director Janis Terpenny, during a panel at the 2023 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Southeastern section conference. The conference was hosted by Mason this week at Mason Square in Arlington, with this year’s theme Educating the Inclusive Engineer: Diverse, Innovative, Accountable.

Alongside Terpenny, the ASEE SE panel Changing the Landscape of the Digital Workforce and DEI: A Call to Action and Research in Engineering Education included Mason Divisional Dean of the School of Computing Gurdip Singh and other education experts like NSF Division Director of Engineering Education & Centers José L. Zayas-Castro.

“My interest is in the perspective of how digital transformation can be embraced in the computing curriculum,” Singh said. “We can develop and think more on how to do that.”

Fuse (at Mason Square) will be a new, 345,000-square-foot hub for digital innovation that will promote the exchange of new ideas and the transfer of technology between Mason’s researchers and students and industry partners to accelerate the development of digital innovation. According to College of Engineering and Computing Dean Ken Ball, Mason is proud to host such an important conference for the first time, and at such a great venue.

“It is an honor and a privilege to host fellow engineering educators here in the Washington, D.C., area,” says Ball who is Chair of ASEE’s Engineering Deans Council, the leadership organization of engineering deans in the United States, with approximately 300 members.

Dr. Natalia Cardelino leads a technical session. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

The 2023 ASEE SE conference brought together engineering educators, industry leaders, and students to discuss and learn about the importance of promoting a diverse, digitally prepared workforce within engineering and STEM education paths. Conference attendees joined a variety of plenary sessions to learn about topics like ChatGPT use, creating optimal learning environments for student success, early outreach for K-12 students, and structural design.

Students competed in a poster competition during the conference, detailing work they’ve accomplished. Projects included creating environmentally sound recreation space from toxically saturated "brownfield" sites of abandoned gas stations, and a virtual reality rock climbing experience for those with disabilities.

Topics

Mason interdisciplinary team receives $1.5 million grant from Department of Defense to research underwater explosions

Shayla Brown — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 18:00:15 +0000

Mason interdisciplinary team receives $1.5 million grant from Department of Defense to research underwater explosions Shayla Brown Mon, 12/12/2022 - 13:00

A ��AV interdisciplinary team is studying underwater explosions and their effects on civil engineering infrastructure with the support of a $1.5 million grant from Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

The interdisciplinary research team, from left to right, Girum Urgessa, Rainald Löhner, Lingquan Li, and Facundo Airaudo. Photo by Cristian Torres.

Lingquan Li, a postdoctoral research fellow, is working alongside Girum Urgessa of the College of Engineering and Computing, Rainald Löhner of the College of Science, and PhD student Facundo Airaudo.

“The sophisticated phenomenon in underwater explosions is important for government agencies interested in protective design,” said Li, who specializes in computational fluid dynamics and mathematics.

The team has run more than 100 test cases to study the structural response and the damage due explosions, Li explained. The resulting pressures and flow fields for different explosive yields and stand-off distances are provided to the Department of Defense.

Urgessa and Löhner are the co-principal investigators (PIs) on the project.

“[Girum] took more the structural part on it, and Lingquan and I did more the fluid part,” said Löhner, who is director of Mason’s Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics, where these experiments have been conducted. “So, we did the explosion in the water, and he did what happens when the shock wave hits the structure and how the structure [reacts].”

“We not only develop new numerical methods and new algorithms in order to compute these explosions, but we also delivered more than 120 results for different geometries, different loads, and different standoff distances,” said Löhner. “It has been extremely successful.”

There is a demand for experts capable of conducting blast-structure interactions and structural integrity assessments. “At Mason, we continue to mentor exceptional post-doctoral research scholars and graduate students needed to address these complex physics and engineering problems,” said Urgessa.

Lingquan Li presents her team's work on underwater explosions. Photo by Cristian Torres.

Airaudo, who is an Institute for Digital Innovation Predoctoral Fellow, is simultaneously working on another project, Optimal HVAC Outlay to Minimize Pathogen Transmission. He and Li spend most weekdays in the center working on these projects.

“It's a good way to collaborate,” said Airaudo, “because she can show me what she's working on and I can just learn from what she's doing and help her a little bit. I can also show her what I'm working on, and she can give me tips as well.”

Airaudo is grateful he gets to learn from Dr. Li, he said, as she is part of a largely underrepresented group in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

“For me personally, [this project] means a lot because research is what I'm interested in; it is the thing I'm best at,” said Li. “I don't see a lot of female researchers in my field of study. I don't know why that is, but it is very important to be inclusive because we need people from different backgrounds [and] all kinds of perspectives to [solve these research problems].”

Mason’s College of Science is above the national average in the number of women enrolled in STEM degree programs. Of the students enrolled at COS, 62 percent of undergraduates and 50 percent of the graduate students are women, according to Dean Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, who presented the numbers at a Board of Visitors meeting in December. “Quoting President [Gregory] Washington, the College of Science already looks like the rest of the country will look in 30-40 years.”

See what the College of Science is doing

Connect with the Institute for Digital Innovation

In This Story

Girum Urgessa

Topics

interdisciplinary

grants

College of Science

College of Engineering and Computing

Civil Engineering

Research

Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA)

Mason Spirit

Spirit Summer 2023

Inquiring Minds

Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)

Defense and Security

Amber Brown discusses Federal Highway Administration internship

Teresa Donnellan — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 15:07:57 +0000

Amber Brown discusses Federal Highway Administration internship Teresa Donnellan Thu, 10/20/2022 - 11:07

Despite having graduated high school in the teeth of the covid-19 pandemic, Amber Brown has made the most of her time on campus. After a freshman year that was almost entirely remote, Brown felt deprived of a year of involvement in campus life and student organizations. She remembers frantically searching during her sophomore year for a way to gain experience in her field, civil engineering.

“It's actually crazy, because I've always been scared to reach out to teachers, not because they're not open. It's more so because it's just new and uncomfortable. I'd never really done that before, networking with your teacher.”

Brown’s statics teacher mentioned his organization was hiring, which gave Brown the courage to reach out to him.

"I emailed him, and I was like, ‘Hi, I really enjoyed your class today. I heard you were hiring. Is there anything [for me]? If not, I understand.’ He sent me the program [information], and he's like, ‘Yeah, apply, and I'll put a good word in for you.’”

Brown became an intern at the US Department of Transportation Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups, or the STIPDG program, run through The Washington Center. She worked on the Climate Challenge Program in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

"I got really lucky,” Brown says, "because my mentor was a lead manager. So it kind of allowed me to see the other side of engineering. I did a lot of organizational skills and management work on [things] like planning, webinars, [and] proposals. I was mirroring project managers.”

She adds, “It was an exciting time, everyone was saying, because Biden was just passing legislation giving out money ... as it relates to anything sustainability.”

The program “relates to tracking greenhouse gases, which is done via an LCA, a life cycle assessment, or an EPD, an environmental project declaration,” Brown explains. In her role, Brown kept tabs on the program’s email inbox, made updates as needed to the program’s website and shared documents, and wrote up meeting agendas and event plans.

"I was in a bunch of meetings ... helping plan webinars to get information out,” she says, adding, “My favorite part was just seeing where states are at as it relates to tracking greenhouse gases. It's kind of crazy, because transportation is the biggest producer of greenhouse gas emission, and doing this is going to allow us to track it, make better aggregates, and all that stuff. So I was able to learn a lot about pavements and design.”

“I definitely think it gave me a lot of insight,” Brown reflects. When asked how the internship influenced her career plans, the junior says, “I'm still trying to figure out which avenue of civil [engineering to pursue], because I didn't realize it was so big.” She explains, “That internship gave me more of the construction management side, which I love. But now I kind of want to get more into...the field engineering side of it, seeing what that is and what that looks like. Then maybe I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do when I graduate.”

Topics

networking

American Society of Civil Engineers

civil engineer

Civil Engineering

civil engineering; stormwater infrastructure; climate variability

China Brown's advice for building a strong future? Take your time.

Tama Moni — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 14:26:58 +0000

China Brown's advice for building a strong future? Take your time. Tama Moni Mon, 09/26/2022 - 10:26

Civil engineering student China Brown says being an engineer isn’t about knowing all the math and physics in the world.

“Being an engineer is coming together with men and women of all backgrounds, experiences, and diversities to share our ideas, to inspire each other as a team, to better our society,” says Brown.

With plans to graduate this semester and start full time at Shirley Construction in January, Brown has had a professional vocation since childhood, when her favorite TV show was Bob the Builder.

“I was always hands-on...I’d want to build stuff. I wore a little hard hat” she says. But even with a clear vision of what she wanted, Brown faced significant challenges on her way to becoming an engineer.

“I came from a single-parent household,” she explained. “We do not have the best financial circumstances, but I came to Mason to pursue my lifelong dream and finally can represent as a first-generation [college graduate], African American, woman civil engineer.”

Brown started at ��AV in 2017 amidst a massive personal challenge that resulted in a sexual assault court case scheduled on her birthday, December 8—coinciding with her first spate of final exams. In addition, test anxiety led Brown to Mason’s disability services; after filing paperwork, she was able to find a testing environment that worked for her. She credits the support of her family, friends, coworkers, and professors for helping her reach her goals as a student, noting especially that her mother and sister’s support allowed her to study, travel, and participate in enriching extracurricular activities.

"Ms. Brown is one of the most dedicated students I have taught. She stands out because of her communication and organizational skills, mental toughness, and humble personality. China has all it takes to start her career as a successful civil engineer." –– Dr. Doaa Bondok, assistant professor of structural engineering in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering

“Shirley gave me a chance at an internship...even though I didn’t have the greatest GPA,” she says. “Being there in the field and … asking questions … helped [me] so much [to] understand what it is to be an engineer.”

Brown’s enthusiasm for her work affirms her pursuit of engineering. When it comes to the job hunt, Brown advises fellow engineering students, “Don’t only focus on the amount of money you want to receive from a company but choose a place that will respect you and what you bring to the company. Go somewhere that you are comfortable and that will allow you to grow and enhance your educational opportunities.”

When asked what advice she had for prospective Mason engineering students, Brown emphasized the importance of patience and balance: “You don't have to be perfect, and your timing is your own. I started in 2017, and I'm graduating now, about five years [later].”

Brown also stresses the importance of persevering through difficult schoolwork: “Don’t be hard on yourself. Sometimes things may not come to you as easily as to others, but that doesn’t mean you are not capable of being successful.”

Dr. Doaa Bondok, an assistant professor of structural engineering who has taught Brown in several classes, says, "Ms. Brown is one of the most dedicated students I have taught. She stands out because of her communication and organizational skills, mental toughness, and humble personality. China has all it takes to start her career as a successful civil engineer."

In a few years, Brown plans to return to Mason for a business degree and ultimately open her own residential building company. Someday she may be hiring Mason interns of her own!

Topics

Civil Engineering

internships

Alumni

Showcasing solutions to problems that matter

Martha Bushong — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 19:39:04 +0000

Showcasing solutions to problems that matter Martha Bushong Wed, 03/23/2022 - 15:39

The College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) has a long history of sending competitors to the final round of ��AV’s Three Minute Thesis competition. Since its inception in 2017, more than a dozen PhD students have used the competition to present their research by explaining its relevance in three minutes with one slide to a panel of judges. This year two students, Aamir Ahmad, (Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering) and Joseph Majdi (Department of Bioengineering) will advance to the final round and compete at the Mason Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference on Friday, April 8, 2022. Both students’ research addresses challenges that affect human health and wellness in vastly different ways.

Aamir Ahmad joined the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering in 2019 as a PhD student. As a member of the Sustainable Geotransportation/Geoenvironmental Infrastructure (SGI) Research Group, his research seeks to understand how to predict the long-term flux of a group of man-made fluorinated organic chemicals called per-polyfluoroaklkyl substances (PFAS).

PFAS are found in a variety of domestic products including food packaging, carpets, upholstery, water-repellent paints, and non-stick cookware. When these products are discarded and arrive in landfills the PFAS may seep into groundwater and cause contamination at levels that can cause disease. The research aims to discover better protective barriers that will keep the contaminants from appearing in the groundwater and other places that would endanger humans.

Instead of looking at environmental factors that affect human health, bioengineering PhD student Joseph Majdi’s research focuses on developing a better way to use a system called electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). His research aims to enhance EMS so that paralyzed muscles fatigue less and battery requirements for assistive devices are reduced.

He says, "Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) is often used for rehabilitation in movement disorders and in assistive devices such as exoskeletons. However, EMS can rapidly cause muscle fatigue, which limits the induced force and becomes unstable. Currently, there is no reliable, real-time indicator for EMS-induced muscle fatigue.” Majdi believes that functional muscle physiology associated with muscle fatigue and fatigue recovery can be inferred from ultrasound imaging. His thesis investigates a system for use in a hybrid walking exoskeleton that can alternate between EMS-driven and electrical motor-driven walking, depending on the muscle's fatigue/recovery state.

Topics

Three Minute Thesis

Bioengineering

Civil Engineering

New lab closes the loop on water sustainability

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 18:47:56 +0000

New lab closes the loop on water sustainability Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/06/2021 - 13:47

In This Story

Kirin Emlet Furst

The water that pours out from your kitchen faucet goes through a lot to make it to your home. Assistant Professor Kirin Emlet Furst wants to use her new high-tech Water Systems Chemistry Lab at the Potomac Science Center to close the loop on water and increase the efficiency of those processes by taking a systems approach.

Kirin Furst (pictured) says that the new equipment in her lab makes their work studying water from different angles possible and accurate. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

Furst, a faculty member in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, believes a systems approach is the best way to solve the world’s safe water problems. “Our research lab is primarily focused on removing organic contaminants in drinking water systems and potable reuse systems,” says Furst.

The water treatment process has many steps: source water protection, water treatment, the distribution of the water, and what people are actually exposed to in their homes. “A lot of researchers and research labs focus on one of these processes, but we have projects that touch each part of the water system,” Furst says.

Furst’s main research interest is in reducing disinfection byproducts caused by reactions between dissolved organic materials and water disinfectants. The disinfectants used in water are essential to preventing water-borne pathogens, but when they react with materials that remain in the water, they can create toxins that have numerous health effects.

“To solve the disinfection byproducts problem, we have to look at the bigger picture. It’s hard to test their effects, and there are dozens of opportunities for these toxins to be introduced, so we can’t look at one stage in the process,” she says.

Furst and the graduate and undergraduate students in her lab are also working on ways to increase affordable water treatment methods for low-income areas and increase the treatment and reuse of wastewater. In addition, some of her graduate students are looking into creating new types of filters, others at reducing phthalates.

The advanced equipment in her lab gives her and her students the ability to tackle numerous parts of the water treatment systems, says Furst. And she is looking forward to the new and innovative projects her undergraduate and graduate students will take on.

Topics

Civil Engineering

Sustainability

water quality

environmental engineering

CEIE Success Stories

CEC faculty research

AI aids those with ADD in construction

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 18:39:05 +0000

AI aids those with ADD in construction Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/16/2021 - 13:39

In This Story

Craig Yu

Maurice Kugler

Explore civil engineering research

Check out our programs

Using virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), a team of researchers at ��AV is taking a wrecking ball to barriers faced by neurodiverse individuals in construction.

The Mason team partnered with researchers at Purdue University on a $2 million National Science Foundation project. The project will explore the future of construction and identify ways to use human-robot teaming to open the field of construction to neurodiverse individuals, specifically those with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

People with ADD or ADHD have more variable attention than those without it, which includes great strengths and weaknesses. Their strengths include incredible problem-solving skills and creativity. Their tendency to be disorganized, have a wandering mind, and take part in more high-risk behaviors can limit their ability to succeed in specific fields, like construction. But the research team believes that with the help of new technology, we will better understand this condition.

“As the future of construction is moving toward technological coupling, workers and machines have to team up to accomplish project goals. Using AI, robots can learn to understand, react, and predict human behaviors. This collaboration could make it possible for us to bring neurodiverse people into construction,” says Behzad Esmaeili, assistant professor of civil, environmental, and infrastructure engineering, and the principal investigator (PI) of the Mason team.

Robots, or cobots, could learn to spot inattention, riskier behaviors, and mistakes while their human partners can be trained to work with these robots to improve their collaboration.

At least 5 percent of the population has been diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. Still, many are undiagnosed, says Brenda Bannan, professor of learning design and technology in the College of Education and Human Development and co-PI on the grant.

For AI robots to learn human behavior, they have to gather data, which has limitations on construction sites. “We cannot safely collect data from actual construction sites because it exposes people to potential injuries. Additionally, this is for a futuristic construction site, where humans and robots are working together,” says Esmaeili.

Craig Yu, assistant professor of computer science and co-PI, uses VR and works with the research team to develop a virtual environment to simulate different scenarios on construction sites, including risky and accidental situations. “We can run various simulations and collect plenty of data that AI robots and systems can learn from, without posing any risks,” says Yu.

The team can also use the virtual environment to train people and construction teams to work with these robots. “Using VR lowers costs and risks, and it can be used to further improve efficiency and productivity on construction sites,” says Yu.

Yu, Esmaeili, Bannan, and their co-PI Maurice Kugler, professor of public policy in the Schar School of Policy and Government, will employ the observations and data from numerous variable sensors, like eye trackers, cognitive brain monitoring, and other psychophysiological and biomechanical metrics to better understand the behavior of people with ADD and ADHD on construction sites and teach robots about how this population uniquely works.

“This innovative technology can give access to people with ADD to completely new employment opportunities and therefore substantially benefit workers, employers in the construction industry, and society at large,” added Kugler, who will conduct the cost-benefit analysis of the research project.

Their collaboration came from conversations at meetings for the Center for Advancing Human Machine Partnerships (CAHMP). “This is the purpose of CAHMP. It was designed to strike these transdisciplinary collaborations and projects,” says Bannan, one of the center’s founders.

The team has already screened nearly 300 participants, and they plan to start running VR simulations and collecting data in February.